City of Memories
by Rock Star Babi
Summary: Didn't satisfy your Mortal Instruments crave after City of Glass? Feel empty without your Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon fix? The story continues in City of Memories. With the return of, not Valentine, but his dark prince...
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Mortal Instruments characters, all of which are property of Cassandra Clare.

Didn't satisfy your Mortal Instruments crave after City of Glass? Feel empty without your Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon fix? The story continues in City of Memories. With the return of, not Valentine, but his dark prince...

**City of Memories**

_A Mortal Instruments Fanfic_

_Courtney Harrison A.K.A_ _Rock Star Babi_


	2. Check It Out!

Want a little more City of Memories? Visit my profile page where you can find deadlines, character bios, photos, and character songs. All character songs can be found on my City of Memories Soundtrack. I will also be putting up City of Memories' quotes. If you find a quote you like, please feel free to request it. Tell me what you think by reviewing City of Memories!

Mrs. Author Pants,

Rock Star Babi


	3. Prologue

**City of Memories: A Mortal Instruments Fanfic**

**Prologue**

She saw him, the angel Raziel, rise from the dark waters of the lake. He held the Mortal Cup, overflowing with a red liquid, in one hand, Maellartach, blood stained half way down to the hilt, in the other. He was beautiful and magnificent, just like she always dreamed an angel would be, and that's just what this was; it was another dream, one which she could not shake herself from.

On the water's bank she could see two figures, one girl with unruly red hair, and one golden haired boy, embraced, and staring up at the angel in horror, as it changed. It became thinner, its golden wings paled, shriviled, and began to fall to the ground, and its face took on a skeletal appearance. The name Ithuriel came to her mind, just as the angel crumbled to ash, and the Mortal Cup and sword clanked to the dry and cracked earth, which used to once be Lake Lyn.

It was just like a movie being played out in her mind. First there was a close up of the two Mortal instruments, Maellartach, and all its glory, covered in red soot and the Mortal Cup, with blood pooling over its tipped side. Then a pair of black boots entered her vision, and it panned up to a face that was instantly recognizable; recognizable to any of the Shadowhunters. Valentine. But he was dead, and on closer inspection, she saw that he only had similar features to the dead traitor. It was his son.

"The Dark Prince," she thought. He picked up the Mortal Cup with a toss and rotated it in his hand, as if he were inspecting it, then he reached down for Maellartach and slung it over his shoulder as he turned his back to her, and walked off into some black haze. And for the first time in this vision, Audrey realized that where Alicante once stood in the distance, was no more than a barren wasteland.

* * *

Clary sat on her bed and looked down where two outfits were sprawled in front of her. One was the product of Isabelle's advice, and fashioned a pair of heels that Clary believed were about half the length of herself. The other was better suited to her tastes. But then again, she had never been on a serious date before.

At the thought of the word date, she could not stop a smile from spreading across her face. "There it goes again," Clary thought. "By the end of today it's going to give me wrinkles."

She had tried the whole dating thing with Simon, when she wasn't being true to her feelings, and before she found out that Jace was in fact _not_ her brother. But she never truly tried to impress Simon, she was so used to being her casual self around him, she'd just feel silly to get all gussied up. She loved to surprise Jace though, considering Jace was rarely ever surprised.

She heard a soft rap at her door and called for Isabelle to come back in. Isabelle cracked the door with an elbow, and kicked it open the rest of the way with her boot. The two glasses of milk she was carrying stayed poised in her hands the whole while, not spilling a drop.

"I think I'm going to just mix and match them both," Clary said with a smile, as Isabelle sat the two glasses on the bedside table and plopped on the bed. "Because there is no way I am wearing those heals, and that skirt is way too short," she held up the blue shirt Isabelle had picked out for her. "I love this top though."

Isabelle made what sounding like an "aw" sound, and wrapped her arms around Clary.

"What?" She asked.

"You're finally acting like a girl," Isabelle crooned.

She rolled her eyes and neatly sat the shirt back down. She glanced at the clock, and frowned in dismay when she found that it read 6:30 p.m. "Thirty more minutes," Clary thought to herself. It seemed way too long.

She glanced about the rest of the room, taking it in with a sigh. It was once Luke's guest bedroom, which she had spent so much time in during her mother's absence. Now, it was officially her room. Luke's house had officially become home to her and her mother.

When Isabelle, Jace, and Alec, well in some ways Alec, learned that Clary would be attending the Institute to finish her schooling, they insisted that she move in and live with them. Even Maryse and Robert Lightwood offered her a room at the Institute. But, Clary refused. She had everything, and more, than she could ever hope for. She had a bigger family than she could ever dream.

"Clary?" She could hear her mother calling from the front porch. She scurried off her bed, and down the hallway. Isabelle took another sip of her milk and followed.

"Oh," Clary said when she noticed her mother and Luke standing outside the screen door, both carrying large cardboard boxes. "You need help?"

Luke squeezed in through the door, as Clary held it open, and sat the large box down on the coffee table with a thud. "No, this is all," he said, and Clary noticed there wasn't even a drop of sweat on his brow. Lucky dog… She had just fixed her hair and it was already a mess.

"What is all of this?" Isabelle asked as she flipped back one of the cardboard lids, and started rummaging through the books it contained.

Luke swiftly plucked one of the books out of her hand. "Merchandise," he replied, and smiled genuinely, "so please don't touch it."

Isabelle shrugged her shoulders and turned to Clary. "Come on Clary, lets go ahead and get dressed."

Jocelyn grinned. "That's right," she said, "you both have big dates tonight."

"Mom…" Clary whined. "Please don't make a big deal of this."

"She wouldn't stop talking about it the whole truck ride," Luke laughed. "She might be even more excited than you are." He then looked at Isabelle and wrinkled his eyebrows. "By the way, who is your date?"

Isabelle turned her head a little, and Clary couldn't help but snicker at the fact that Isabelle was actually being coy. "Simon," Clary answered for her, "even if Simon refuses to admit that it's a date."

Isabelle pouted. "He's too cruel," she said. "He says it's only so that Clary and Jace don't feel awkward on their first real date."

"Oh…" Luke said, and Clary could sense that Luke was expecting that answer, but was not hoping for it.

"What's with that 'oh'?" she asked.

* * *

It hadn't taken him but a moment to get ready. It wasn't because of the fact that he liked all of the clothes he owned, therefore he didn't have to go through them to decide what to wear, and it wasn't because of the fact that he had just had his brown hair trimmed, so he necessarily didn't have to fix it. It was all about the speed. He even had some extra time to play World of Warcraft, and jam out to some of his favorite Cds before the clock hit 6:45, and he pulled on his coat to leave.

"Heading out?" Simon's mom called from the living room, and he nodded.

"Yeah."

"I left you some money on the table for a cab. Enjoy yourself sweetie, be safe."

Simon shouted goodbye to her as he closed the front door. "Be safe." Geesh, if only his mother had known he was the thing others needed to be safe from. He started to descend the steps down to the sidewalk and stashed the money in his pocket. There was no need to hail a cab either, considering he could walk there faster than having to wait in Friday night's traffic.

He pushed past a line of teenagers waiting outside Pandemonium. It was that club that had changed his and Clary's lives forever. There was a group of shivering girls standing in the middle of the line, and he could hear them giggle as he passed. Yeah, it certainly changed his life.

It was a cold autumn night. Simon's favorite season. He loved the change of the leaves, the feeling of nostalgia that just seemed to hang in the air, the cool breezes that blew through the trees. Of course, Simon could no longer feel those cool breezes. He couldn't even see his breath illuminate in the streetlights.

Luke's house was a good distance away from his, but for a vampire it seemed like a stroll in the park. Before he knew it, he found himself approaching the abandoned sugar factory, which rested right by the river, and was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Luke's.

"I can't believe I just thought of a hop, skip, and a jump," Simon shook his head and laughed at himself. Then he saw a figure illuminated underneath one of the streetlights. She was walking with her head down, hands shoved into her baggy pants, and was kicking an old coke can.

"Simon," Maia called out as she heard him approaching, and happily rushed to his side. "I was just on my way to Luke's when I could sense you coming. I thought we could both walk there together."

"Bad," Simon thought, "very bad idea." But of course he couldn't say that, so instead he turned to her and said. "Sure," while he cursed his polite demeanor.

It was nice that Simon didn't have to worry about Maia keeping up with him, worry about her talking about clothes and the latest trends, or asking questions when they were walking side by side, and her warm hand accidentally brushed across his cold one. But that worried him. His relationships between him and Isabelle, and him and Maia, worried him to no end. What was he thinking though? Relationships? He wasn't in a relationship with either of them really. Or so he tried to tell himself…

"Took you long enough," Simon heard a voice say as he approached Luke's yard.

There was someone sitting on the back bumper of Luke's old truck, and Simon knew immediately by that someone's tone, drowned in sarcasm, who it was.

"Yeah, yeah Shadowhunter, keep telling yourself that," Simon rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous cause I have those mad, superhuman skills."

Jace laughed. "And I don't?"

"What are you both doing here anyways though?" Maia looked to Simon. "If I may ask."

Simon heard someone chuckle and took note of the grin playing on Jace's lips. He looked slightly amused.

"Can't believe you didn't tell her," Jace said with a tisk, and trotted up to the porch, and rang the doorbell.

Simon could hear rustling from the inside, someone calling the two girls downstairs, and Clary yelling at Isabelle "Yes, for the millionth time, your hair looks fine." Then the front door opened, and Simon couldn't help but smile at them, both trying to look so composed in the doorframe, and both breathing like they had just run a marathon. Hard to believe Shadowhunters could build up their adrenaline more while getting ready for a date, than slaying demons.

At first Simon's gaze flickered to Clary. It wasn't on purpose, but just a habit. He wasn't used to having any other girls his age in his life other than her. But, her eyes were all on Jace. They held a look that Simon had wished for so many years to be directed at him, but now they seemed perfect the way they were, both set on her beaming face.

He heard someone clearing their throat, and then Simon turned his attention to his "date." The one who demanded attention, and deserved it, in a lot of ways. Isabelle was wearing her favorite pair of boots, brown with two white buckles in the front, a pair of denim capris with a red belt wrapped around them, and a white button down shirt, with a red pendant hanging down the shirt's, um, low cut neckline.

"Shall we go?" Jace asked as he offered his arm to Clary, then looked at Simon, indicating that he should do the same.

Simon shook himself out of his daze and held his arm out to Isabelle, and she quickly laced hers with his as the two boys escorted them down the stairs.

"Have a good night," he could hear Jocelyn calling from the house, and looked back to see her. But what he saw instead was Maia, staring after him with a hollow expression on her face. Luke yelled something to her from the living room, and she bit her lip, and slowly turned and closed the door. He thought he felt a slight pang in his heart, if his heart could still pang, and followed behind Jace and Clary, with Isabelle at his side.

Want to know when the next chapter will be up? Visit my deadlines in my profile page!


	4. Little Blue Book

**City of Memories: A Mortal Instruments Fanfic**

_(Sorry this chapter ran so far past its deadline. I forgot last weekend was a holiday, and weekends are usually when I get most of my writting done :P. Hope you enjoy this next chapter though. Please comment if you likey! P.s. Because of how late this chapter ran, I will be changing my deadlines for the next chapters.)_

**Little Blue Book**

The streets were alive with a constant honking, and the shuffling of feet. Women walked side by side, busy chatting, swinging their large shopping bags as they strolled down the sidewalk. Some children ran between them, their mom was yelling at them not to get too far ahead. To their eyes, everything was normal and mundane. They could not see the group of teenagers, surrounding something that writhed and squirmed in the alleyway.

Clary looked down at it. It was a slug like demon, that smelled like rotten eggs and old garbage. It had one of Jace's seraph blades protruding out of its torso. At least, she would have guessed it was the creature's torso.

Isabelle stomped on it, stabbing her pointed heal into its flesh, and it seemed to melt into a pile of black blood, which covered Isabelle's sole, then faded away into dust.

Simon shook his head. "Please don't tell me this is what Shadowhunters do on all their dates."

"It's not like we planned to find this thing sliming up and down the avenue," Clary said with a roll of her eyes.

Jace bent forward and scooped up his blade, brushed it off, and stuck it into his back pocket. Clary felt a little betrayed. She imagined a woman sitting in a restaurant, trying to carry on a conversation with her date. Her date has a cell phone up to his ear, talking to employees and coworkers about an upcoming project. But of course Jace would still be "working," even though Clary felt he enjoyed it too much sometimes. A Shadowhunter's job was never done. Not unless hell froze over. Suddenly, she felt very stupid for leaving the house without her blade as well.

"Well," Isabelle reached down and swiped her boot, as if she was making sure there was no dirt on it, "lets get going. I would like to eat before 8:00."

The boys had planned dinner at a small corner restaurant. Clary remembered eating there a few times. It was right down the block from her and her mother's old apartment building. On the outside of the glass windows it advertised a number of plates. Its specialties were all of the Italian variety, and Clary happened to love Italian food. She could feel Jace looking at her as she stared up at the storefront. Did he choose her favorite on purpose?

"Aw, I ate spaghetti yesterday," she could hear Isabelle whine.

"Well don't eat spaghetti," Jace said, slightly peeved. He reached down and took Clary's hand, to her surprise, and led her into the building.

* * *

Maia dusted off another book and placed it carefully on the shelf. She had already sorted through one box, and was about to fall asleep from boredom. She guessed the work was worth it since Luke paid her, and she pretty much had to support herself.

Having something to do also helped her take her mind off of, other things. Which had been on her mind a lot recently. First she arranged the books alphabetically, then by size, and then by color. But through time she ran out of ways to organized the books, and Simon entered her mind yet again.

She sat down in a big worn chair, in the corner of the bookstore, for a break. It felt so dark and dreary, with no life in it. It was quiet, so how could she stop herself from thinking?

Simon was on a date with Isabelle. It shouldn't have been such a shock to her. Isabelle was beautiful, strong, and nice for the most part. Maybe her theory that brain would win over beauty was wrong.

Maybe it was even worse than that, and Simon did not like her for something so easily changed, but something she was; something she couldn't change no matter how hard she willed it away, but it always appeared again on a full moon.

The Children of the Moon and the Night Children were enemies. Maia would have never pegged him one to follow vampire ways but…

One of the books collapsed to the floor, and she sighed and lifted herself out of the chair. She quirked her mouth when she saw the spot on the shelf she had placed it before. No books were tilted, there was just a rectangular void where the book had once been. She bent down to pick it up.

It was just a plain, light blue book. It fell on its binding, and was opened to the front page. There, under the name "Christopher Giles," was a red seal, a star with flames encircling it. The seal of the Lilith Children. The book had once belonged to a warlock.

Instinctively she jerked her hand back, afraid of what the book might possess, but she had already touched it once before, and shook it off as harmless. It must have been harmless, if it was going to be sold in a bookstore.

She was curious about what the book might contain, and sat back down in the chair with it in her hands. She scanned through the pages, all containing what looked like a number of journal entries from the years 1912 to 1964.

"Entry number twenty-six," Maia read aloud, "June 03, 1914. The color red, screaming my name, twisted metal, breathing slowing, cradled in lap, tears, sobbing, the end, I want it to end, why won't it come, please, let her die… two years ago…" The words were choppy, a series of thoughts, that one had to put together like a puzzle.

She kept on reading. "Entry number fifty-three, October 17, 1935. Friends visited, asked about her, couldn't speak, they hadn't known, spoke in a choke, they cried, they left, sat down in dark, cradled head in hands, hated the memories, wish I could forget."

"Entry number one hundred-twenty, March 21, 1960. Been years, still haunts me, going to see that man again, he will make it all better, for a moment, a moment is all I need, it won't be much longer, till we meet yet again."

She didn't read them all; only the ones which contained words that jumped out at her. It didn't take much to piece together the scattered thoughts. Someone he loved died in some crash. Her memory lives on inside his heart. And it pains him…

What would it be like? Being afraid to remember those you loved…

She already knew. She had loved, and been hurt, by one angelic, little boy. She had been betrayed, and tossed out for the dogs, so to speak, by another boy, whom she loved with all her heart. And the memories of those two, the one who made Maia afraid, and the one who made her inhuman, were things she never wanted to remember.

* * *

"The food?" Jace asked her, as they sat on the front porch step, hand in hand.

"Great," Clary enthused.

"The walk through the park?"

"Beautiful," she sighed.

"…Me?" He questioned.

She leaned in and gave him a peck. "Wonderful. The date was all wonderful Jace."

He slowly lifted her face, to plant a longer, and more intense kiss on her lips. He broke it with a smile, and she laughed, too excited to contain it.

"Alright love birds," Isabelle called. She had her purse swung over her shoulder and was standing impatiently. She yawned. "Jace, we should leave now. It's late."

He sighed in annoyance, but finally unlaced his hand with hers. "Goodnight," he said as he reluctantly stood up, and began to walk towards the street, where Isabelle was already hailing a cab.

Clary stared after him, until his head disappeared into the interior of the car, and it drove out of view.

The inside of the house was dark, but she could see a faint light glowing in the hallway. It was coming from the living room, where the TV was still left on, some old movie filled its tiny screen. She peeked in. Her mother and Luke were both on the couch. Jocelyn was leaning on him, and her head was rested on his shoulder. She could hear their deep breathing as they slept. It made her feel an overwhelming sense of happiness. This was her family, her wonderful, unnatural, family.

She yawned. She hadn't noticed how tired she had been. How could she have been sleepy while she was out on a date with Jace? She went up stairs, washed her face, and pulled on an old t-shirt and some comfy shorts.

When she turned off her lamp, the lights from the city, over the river, were barely visible. But it was just enough to give her room a serene glow. It kind of looked like the moonlight; if the moon had been out. Clary turned back her covers, and went to sleep.

* * *

_What is this?_

_Where am I?_

A desert, barren, with red dust everywhere. She stood on the water's edge of a lake. It was bright, and Clary felt the need to squint. When her eyes focused, some familiarity of the land sunk in.

"Clary?" She heard a voice behind her, and spun around on her toes.

The wind blew Jace's golden hair back from his face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "What am… what am I doing here?"

His eyes rose to look above her head, and Clary followed them. A gasping, almost screaming, noise emitted from her, as she stared up at the floating figure.

_Ithuriel. Poor Ithuriel…_

Jace walked to stand beside her, and put his arms around her to comfort.

The angel hovered in the sky, above the lake. The angel Clary and Jace had found in the basement of the Wayland Manor. Some of the same blood that ran through his veins, ran through theirs. He had died the night they had found him, and along with him, all of Clary's cryptic nightmares and visions died as well.

_But then what was this?_

"It is the same thing," someone spoke in the silence. A black cloud materialized before them, and through it stepped Sebastian. Clary could feel Jace trying to lunge towards him, but for some reason she held him back. Sebastian snapped his fingers, and at that Ithuriel vanished, his ashes fell to the ground. "Pesky little things, angels and the like." He smiled at them, and Clary also felt the urge to lunge forward and strangle him. But she couldn't, she just stared at him in shock. She knew she was dreaming. How could he be alive otherwise…?

"Ah," he reached down and lifted two shining objects.

"Put them down!" Jace shouted.

Sebastian only smiled and slung Maellartach over his shoulder. "Not again Shadowhunter," he said with a crooked grin. "You'd have to kill me first. And how can you kill a dead man?" The black haze had reappeared, and he stepped through it. Instead of vanishing, the giant mass shrunk, then swelled into a massive ball of light. It suddenly exploded into millions of glittering crystals, and as the light rained down it cast an illusion over the land, or broke it…

"Alicante," Clary whispered in shock, and sprung awake in bed.

She fled down to the kitchen, and fumbled with the buttons on the phone. They had programmed the Institute into speed dial.

"Someone answer," she willed as it rang on the other end.

"Hello?" Jace said, with a sleepy yawn.

"The dream!" Clary yelled, before she had found the right words.

There was a pause. "Clary… what dream?" He asked.

She felt floored. "You… you didn't have the same dream?"

"I haven't even fallen asleep yet Clary. I've been busy. Maryse had given us homework…"

"Jace!" Clary shouted, cutting him off. "This is important! I'm coming over, now!"

Before he had a chance to say anything she hung up, and ran to grab her coat off of the coat rack.

If this dream was anything like the others, it meant something was going to happen, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what that something was. She could have told Luke, but she didn't know what to say, how to make him believe her. If Ithuriel wasn't alive, then how did she know this wasn't just some nightmare? She needed help. Magnus, maybe? Maryse or Robert? Jace, Isabelle, and Alec, her Shadowhunter trio? She felt like she just needed someone to show her Alicante. She needed to be sure it was still standing and not in flames, burning to the ground.

There was only one light pole outside of Luke's house, and she stood beside it, waiting for a cab to pass. She bounced on her heals impatiently. Then stopped. She felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. Someone was watching her from the shadows.

She looked frantically over the darkness. Black clouds hung low in the sky, and covered all the starlight. She couldn't see anything beyond her side of the curb. She closed her eyes and inhaled. Nothing was there. She must have been scared of the dark.

"Clary…" she heard someone whisper over her shoulder. She could feel their breath on her cheek.

Her eyes snapped open, just as something large and wooden struck her across the forehead, and she fell to the pavement. The darkness overtook her, she was floating in a sea of nothingness. The painless bliss of unconsciousness…

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	5. How Do You Feel

**City of Memories: A Mortal Instruments Fanfic**

_(Sorry this chapter ran so far past its deadline. Because of how late this chapter ran, I will be changing my deadlines for the next chapters. This chapter is a little shorter than the others. Things are going to start getting good! So please keep reading!)_

**How Do You Feel**

Her hair was soaked. Clary's clothes felt wet, the ground felt wet, the feeling of rain hung in the air. It was like a soft morning dew times ten, and she wanted to cringe at how uncomfortable it made her. At the furrow of her brow, a sharp pain shot through her forehead and made her wince. She whimpered.

It hurt her just to lift her eyelids, but she couldn't keep them closed forever. Wherever she was, she knew she had to escape.

She tried to move her hands, but couldn't, they were tied. She was lying on her back, staring up at a blue ceiling that looked like it was lit by a million tiny chandeliers.

No, they weren't chandeliers. The sun was reflecting through a crevice off ragged, pristine crystals. Their radiance was too imperfectly beautiful to be manmade.

With a heave, she tried to sit up, but she felt sickly dizzy, and cursed when she had to lay back down.

"I wouldn't try that again."

She turned her head to the left, putting her nose so close to the ground that she could smell the dirt.

There was a man, a big man in a long blue coat, sitting in a chair at the corner of the cavern. Clary didn't recognize him.

He got up, and was able to cross the room to stand beside her in a few long strides. He smiled and crouched down to move a strand of her hair from her face.

"Don't worry," he tried to say in a comforting tone, but his deep voice almost made it impossible. He moved two fingers to her forehead, "this won't hurt for long."

She felt the fingers pressing down, and electric shocks seemed to flow from them through her pores. At first she couldn't hear anything, except a popping noise in her ears, then she couldn't feel her legs, and her hands started to tingle like they had fallen asleep. Everything started to dim. How many times was she going to black out in one day? Except this time, somehow, she was still conscious of everything going on around her.

There was a tiny vibration that shook the ground underneath her, two feet planting firmly beside her still body. She could barely see the outline, the shadow, but she was still aware of the familiar face that leaned closer to hover over her.

It felt like her brain began to sizzle, and Clary started to scream, as they all started slipping away, one by one…

* * *

"There are too many people in New York," Maia said, down heartened. "Makes you feel so small."

Simon placed a hand on her back, and she felt her cheeks flush slightly as he tried to guide her through the crowd. "And completely claustrophobic. Thanks to this, I suck at hide and go seek."

"Right," Maia agreed. "No hiding in cabinets."

Simon grinned. "But, I bet I would rule at playing in the dark."

"What? Are you bragging?" Is what she wanted to say, but she bit her lip, trying to refrain from it. She didn't want him to know his little, innocent comment had trickled into the gutters…

"There!" She suddenly shouted, pointing towards a head, bobbing up and down amidst the others.

"Not her," Simon accessed quickly. "I would know Clary's scent anywhere. That's not it."

"Then what is it? Maybe I could be more help if I knew."

"Sweet, candy apples," he said confidently.

"Really?" She asked.

"Well," he shrugged and sat down on a bench, "maybe I had always imagined it."

She sat down beside him, and they watched as people passed by. Countless pedestrians walked past them, but not a single one of them was familiar. Time seemed to pass by excruciatingly slow. Silence stretched on forever.

What did they have to talk about? Normally, when she talked to Simon, they would just tell each other about their day. She'd always say that she had spent most of the day at the store with everyone else. Every once in a while she'd throw in something that upset her. Occasionally, they'd talk about that butcher Maia knew, and Simon's dietary needs…

But she had spent her whole day with Simon, there were no complaints about that, and they couldn't necessarily discuss Simon's blood intake in front of the mundies.

She heard him gasp beside her. He looked like he was about to say something as he stared out over the sidewalk, but his eyes quickly fell, and his face looked melancholy again. Another mistaken identity.

"I read a book yesterday!" Maia shouted. She was just trying to think of something to say.

"Hmm," Simon's head shot up at her outburst and he turned to her. "Was it any good?"

Oops, she had thought of something to talk about, she just didn't have much to say about it. "It was… interesting."

He arched an eyebrow.

"The sentences were all choppy, fragmented, and broken." _Kind of like me_, she thought. "It was kind of depressing, but pretty poetic."

"Hey, aren't us downworlders supposed to be all dark and broody anyways?" He asked

She smiled. "But I still prefer happy endings."

Even if they weren't meant for her. Maybe in books, and movies, and songs, she could find her storybook romance, her model family, her perfect life. Just, too bad she wasn't one of those heroines… They only left room for her to dream.

"So…," she began, "how did your date with Isabelle go?" She was so pathetic, sacrificing her feelings and bringing up something she was so touchy about, just to make him feel less uncomfortable. What a last resort…

"It-wasn't-a-date," Simon enunciated every word clearly, "and I wish everyone would quit saying that it was."

Maia was at a lost for words. "But, that's not what it looked like to me."

"Technically," Simon said, "yeah it was a double date. But it was only at the benefit of Clary and Jace."

"So you didn't like your 'date' with Isabelle?" she eyed him, searching his face for emotion. He must have noticed her stare though, cause he quickly looked away, towards the street.

"I don't know," he didn't meet her gaze. "You're supposed to have fun when you're out with your friends I guess."

The pity Maia felt for Isabelle surprised her. Their feelings were probably about the same. Why couldn't Simon make up his mind? Why couldn't he quit walking on eggshells around them, and tell them the truth?

"You know," she said, speaking her thoughts aloud. "There is no right or wrong answer for how you feel. It's just that. It's how _you_ feel, and whatever you say… is right."

He nodded, "I know. But what if what I feel hurts somebody, isn't that wrong?"

"No. Because no matter what you feel, there's a good chance it will hurt somebody. You say it, you might hurt someone close to you. You don't say it, you're only hurting yourself."

"Well then the obvious answer is the later right? You just deal with your own problems, you don't have to see other people suffer."

Unless, the reason why they are suffering is because you're a babbling idiot, who has no woman skills, is too sensitive for his own good, and occasionally has cravings to suck other's blood.

"What are we talking about again, exactly?" Simon's voice brought Maia back to reality.

"Nothing," she quickly said, and went back to her people watching.

* * *

It was a bitter early morning. The river's waves crashed unrelentingly against its seawall.

What was it about the day that felt so lonely? Was it the gray sky? Was it because the only movement that seemed to break the stillness, was the whisper of the occasional wind through the trees? Or the fact that his hand was empty, and that he could coil it tightly into a fist too easily.

"Damn," Jace muttered as he punched another tree, this time with his left fist. His knuckles on his right hand had already been reduced to scrapes and bruises.

It seemed like days since she had called, saying she would arrive at the Institute. But the dawn after that night had broken only hours ago.

They were all out looking. Isabelle was searching with Alec, Simon was searching with Maia, and Luke and Jocelyn were staying at the house, in case Clary came back. Jace was by himself. Everyone knew it was best to leave him alone.

But what could he have done to prevent Clary from leaving her house? She had hung up on him before he had a chance to say anything. But, the bigger question was where she could be.

Jace felt another wave of anger spread through him. He had even searched the river. The thought of what he could have found… and Luke had contacted the council in Alicante, in case she had tried anything stupid.

No, he had to stop thinking of the worst.

She could have just went to a friend's house, and forgotten to call. That didn't make since though. Not after the phone call that night. Which Jace had relayed to everyone back at the Institute, as soon as he heard Clary was missing.

"Why hadn't you told us earlier!" Isabelle shouted. "If it was something important, so much so that she had to come over here so late at night… Jace you're so stupid sometimes!"

She marched off towards her room.

"Where are you going?" Alec called after her.

"To get my gear!"

Alec shook his head and looked at Jace. "Please, remember that you are not the only one who cares for Clary." He pointed after Isabelle. "Her new best friend is missing, and now we will all have to deal with her ranting until we find her."

Jace put his palm to his forehead. So this was what worry felt like. Until he met Clary, he never really knew what it meant to be afraid. He was always brave Jace, Jace with guts of steel, Jace who could handle anything. Except for one silly, redheaded girl…

He heard a ringing from his pocket, and quickly scrambled to get his phone.

"Luke?" He asked anxiously.

"We haven't found her yet," the voice over the line said. Jace felt his heart sink back down. "Someone might know where she is though," he continued. "We got a call from the Institute."

"The Institute?"

"In London," Luke stated.

Jace sighed. "And?"

"They want you, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon, to pay them a visit. Now."

Want to know when the next chapter will be up? Visit my deadlines on my profile page!


	6. Author's Note

**A Fresh Start**

Rock Star Babi, author of **City of Memories**, is finally back! (After some serious mind searching for her old email's password so she could reset her one on here)… Seriously, I give my props to anyone who is still with me on this. Now that I'm back and have gained some new inspiration from Clockwork Angel and City of Fallen Angels, I'm planning on rewriting these first few chapters of City of Memories and picking it back up where I left off. Look on my profile page for the new revised version and updated chapters once I get them written out. Thank you for your patient waiting.


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